


No Touchie

by redreaper86



Series: You're A Part Of This, Too [3]
Category: The Batman (Movie 2021)
Genre: 2022 Riddlebird, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Caring Oswald Cobblepot, Colin Farrell Penguin, Gender Dysphoria, Implied Sexual Content, Insecurity, Kissing, M/M, Paul Dano Riddler, Pregnant Edward Nygma, Trans Edward Nygma, Weight Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:55:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27601019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redreaper86/pseuds/redreaper86
Summary: As months pass by and Edward's pregnancy  begins to 'show' more and more, he distances himself from Oswald  -- not wanting the latter to touch him.
Relationships: Oswald Cobblepot/Edward Nygma
Series: You're A Part Of This, Too [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2011039
Comments: 10
Kudos: 52





	1. Chapter 1

As time went on, Oswald watched Edward bond with his three boys -- helping sixteen-year-old Ignatius with his advanced Calculus homework, playing video games with twelve-year-old Ethan, and reading fairytales (only the gruesome original kinds) to nine-year-old Martin. He saw Edward give his all with the renovations of the Manor: projects that Oswald had started long ago only to leave unfinished because of his other pressing priorities, Edward finished efficiently and in record time. The whole family ate better now that they'd stopped ordering takeout and were eating the healthier home-cooked meals that Edward made for them.

But Oswald also noticed that as six months passed by and Edward's pregnancy began to 'show' more and more, he'd become distant. Whenever Oswald tried to hold him, Edward would pull away as soon as he could. It became especially obvious when Oswald would touch Ed's stomach which, of course by now, was huge and round. Edward would flinch as though Oswald's touch had burned him, then gently push the other man's hands away and make some excuse to leave the room.

Oswald had tried to be patient, had been walking on eggshells around Edward for nearly three months, ever since Ed's belly had really popped, which was when the younger man had started acting distant. But Oswald's attempts to give Ed his space only seemed to push the latter further into his shell.

So today, Oswald was going to try a different tack. After getting home from an early morning meeting at the Iceberg Lounge, he immediately went in search of Edward. He found him in the nursery, painting the room a pale shade of green, overtop the pale shade of yellow, overtop the pale shade of pink, overtop -- Oswald had lost track of how many pastel colours Edward had painted over.

He leaned against the doorframe, watching Edward carefully brushing around a light switch. Ed was wearing low slung dark green sweatpants, mint green Ugg boots and a clingy neon green t-shirt which had ridden up a little with his painting efforts, exposing his lower back. Oswald smiled fondly at the stripe of skin, noting the two adorable little dimples on the backs of Edward's hips.

"That looks great, Ed," Oswald said, not talking about the paint job at all.

"It looks like barf," Edward replied, calmly painting. "I'm gonna have to repaint this whole room."

Oswald counted to ten before speaking. "I think it looks fine."

"I don't want it to be _fine_ ," Edward said, swishing his paintbrush a little harder as his tone grew sharper. "I want it to be _perfect_. Not this sloppy, gross, _disgusting_ shade of puke-green."

"Wow," Oswald said. "That’s a lot of animosity directed at a paint colour."

"It deserves it," Ed slapped his brush into the paint tray and moved on to another outlet to paint around. "I had such high hopes for it when I first saw it and it has disappointed me. Moreover, it has _betrayed_ me."

Oswald suppressed a smile. "Are we still talking about the paint?"

"What do _you_ think?" Edward spat, and Oswald could hear the tears in his voice. He furiously brushed some more paint onto the wall where it didn’t need it.

"I can't read your mind, love," Oswald said patiently. "No matter how much I would like to. So please, tell me what's wrong? Because I know it's not the paint."


	2. Chapter 2

"No, it's not the paint." Edward set the paintbrush down and backed up to survey his handiwork. The seafoam-green he'd painted the nursery was not actually that bad, he'd just wanted something to blame his bitchy mood on.

There was a rustling sound as Oswald stepped forward on the sheet of clear plastic that protected the floor and Edward gasped as he felt Oswald's hands slip under his arms and grip his waist. He tried to squirm away but Oswald's arms just wrapped tighter around his bulging stomach.

"What is it, then?"

"Oswald..." Edward closed his eyes as Oswald kissed the side of his head. "I -- I really need to finish this."

"You've finished it," Oswald whispered in his no-nonsense voice Edward had heard him use on the kids before. "Now tell me what's wrong."

Edward sighed. How could he explain everything that he was going through right now? How he felt about this tiny stranger that had taken up residence in his body, who was single-handedly wreaking havoc on his hormones, his emotions and his waistline?

"I just feel...so gross."

Oswald sighed against Edward's ear. "Is that why you haven't been letting me touch you?"

"It's not you," Edward assured him. "You've been great. I just didn't want you to touch me the way that I am now."

"What, pregnant?"

"Awkward. Bulky." Edward made a little helpless gesture at his body. "Fat."

"You do realize who you're talking to, right?" Oswald chuckled. "I still outweigh you by at least fifty pounds."

"It's different with me, and you know it." Edward squirmed again and Oswald let him go. "On you the extra weight looks attractive, powerful -- majestic, even. On me it looks soft, weak...wrong." This was the first time he'd mentioned his dysphoria, which was growing with every inch added to his waistline.

Oswald stepped up to Edward and held his chin. "There's nothing wrong with you, Edward. Or with the way you look now."

"You're right, I know," Edward felt his eyes sting. "But I like being slim. I feel better about myself then. Does that make me a hypocrite?"

He was referring to the way he unapologetically adored Oswald's well-fleshed physique, constantly showering the older man in complements and treats.

"No, love," Oswald cupped the side of Edward's face. "It makes you human." He leaned forward and caught Edward's mouth with his, and the younger man melted into him, wrapping his arms around Oswald's neck.

Even as he moved his mouth against Oswald's, Edward huffed in frustration as his pregnant belly pressed against Oswald's even more prominent, yet much softer one. He broke the kiss and glared down at his stomach.

"You see, even my own body is trying to keep us apart!" Edward exclaimed dramatically.

Oswald laughed, grabbing Ed by the waist and pulling him closer to him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: this chapter touches briefly on the threat of dying during childbirth.

"I'm serious, Ozzie," Edward insisted, even as he tilted his head to give Oswald better access to his neck. "I wish I could've just laid an egg then you could've sat on it until it hatched, like a real penguin dad."

Oswald snorted with laughter against Edward's neck. 

"It would work out great for us," Edward went on, sounding quite taken with the idea. "I would like be able to move around freely and stay skinny and you could sit on the egg and I'd feed you all the food you wanted so you'd get even fatter."

"I'd never want to get off of the egg," Oswald joked. "The poor thing would never hatch."

"Then it could just _stay_ in the egg!" Edward chirped. "Forever. Problem solved."

"Edward..." Oswald pulled back to gaze at Ed and saw, to his alarm, that the younger man’s eyes were bright with tears. "Are you scared of having this baby?"

Edward bit his lip. "It's going to hurt so much, Oz. What if I die? And...what if the baby hates me?"

"Oh, Edward," Oswald held the younger man's face between his hands. "You're perfectly healthy, you have the best doctors and I'll be there with you every step of the way. And as for the baby hating you -- what kind of question is that?"

"Because she already hates me," Edward whined. "She's making me all fat and ache-y, she doesn't stop kicking me at night..."

"You're exhausted," Oswald realized, noting the dark circles under Edward's eyes. "And here I've been trying to give you your space when I should have been taking care of you."

"It's my fault," Edward said, feeling guilty for inadvertently making Oswald feel guilty. "I kept pushing you away."

"I shouldn't have let you. I won't anymore," Oswald said, looking adorably determined. "Starting right now, I'm giving you my full and undivided attention."

"Ooh, I like attention," Edward grinned through his tears as Oswald yanked him close again and kissed him.

Oswald hummed against Edward's mouth. "I kind of noticed that."


	4. Chapter 4

Twin thrills of joy and terror bloomed in Edward's chest as Oswald's hands roamed his swollen midsection, nerves that he'd forgotten he had during the three months of Oswald 'giving him his space' all fireing off at once as the other man's rough calloused palms slid his t-shirt up a little more.

Edward's breath snagged in his throat, and Oswald must've felt it as he murmured against Ed's mouth: "Is this okay?"

"Yes..." Edward breathed. "Just, please -- keep it slow like you are now."

"Will do, baby." Oswald kissed along Edward's jawline as he slowly backed him up to the small work table.

With Oswald nibbling at his neck like a peckish vampire, Edward felt behind him for a clear space on the work table, between the paint trays and stirrers. When he found one, he sat down on the edge of the table and Oswald hooked his hands under Ed's legs, lifting them to wrap around the older man’s waist.

The table creaked dangerously. 

"Oswald, I'm too heavy," Edward warned, even as he gasped sharply as Oswald's tongue swept a particularly sensitive spot under his ear. "The table's gonna break." 

"So let it break," Oswald kept right on kissing Ed's neck, working his way down to his shoulder. "I'll catch you."

A giddy laugh bubbled out of Edward's throat as he squeezed Oswald's biceps. "I don't doubt it, birdie. You've been secretly working out? And --" he took a sniff of Oswald's neck, "-- baby, you quit smoking! When did that happen?"

"Ever since you moved in," Oswald said, gruff and shy all at the same time, a combination that made him twice as cute in Ed's eyes. "I want to live to see our daughter grow up, preferably without me being on oxygen or chemo. And I want to grow old with you."

"That is..." Edward's heart felt like it would burst with happiness, "...the sweetest thing you've ever done for me, Ozzie. Which is really saying something."

"Let's see if I can break my own record." Oswald lifted Edward's chin and kissed him again, long and slow and deep. As he did this, he slid his hands under Ed's t-shirt, his fingertips just brushing the edge of Edward's binder. Ed's heart fluttered like a trapped songbird against his ribcage as Oswald unfastened it and tossed it aside. But it was not because Ed was frightened or embarrassed.

It was because he was elated.

With Oswald's hands caressing his body, with his mouth on Ed's mouth, Edward had never felt more himself.

Also, the table never did break, not even under their eventual combined weights and throes of passion, which Edward considered a minor miracle of gravitational science.


End file.
